Important facts to know about canola oil

By:Ariba Khaliq, Onlymyhealth Editorial Team,Date:Aug 03, 2015

Canola oil is heavily marketed as a healthy choice of cooking oil. While manufacturers call it the “world’s healthiest cooking oil,” some experts disagree. Let us look into important facts about canola oil before deciding whether to use it or not.

1

Is canola oil really healthy?

Canola oil, which has come to gain popularity as healthy cooking oil may not be what you think it is. For a hint, check the label of the vegetable oil you use. There is a 90 percent chance that canola oil will be one of the listed ingredients. We now would like to inform you about the health concerns and dangers that might make you think twice before purchasing canola oil. You might also want to throw away that existing vegetable oil you just checked. Here are seven important facts to know about canola oil in order to stay healthy.

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2

It isn’t fit for human consumption

Canola oil was never invented or intended for human consumption. We say invented because it doesn’t come from a real plant. Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant. The latter comes from the mustard family of plants.

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3

Canola oil is toxic for humans and animals

Canadian scientists turned rapeseed oil into edible oil using selective breeding techniques to create seeds that contained less harmful substances than in rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil was cheap to produce but could not be eaten because it contained erucic acid (a fatty acid that caused heart damage in rats) and glucosinolates (bitter compounds ruining the taste of the oil.)

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4

It can cause various ailments

It is clear how canola oil is extracted from rapeseeds that have been bred to contain less of some unfavourable substances, and that most of the world’s canola crop is genetically modified. It has been associated with symptoms of Emphysema (a condition in which the air sacs of the lungs are damaged and enlarged, causing breathlessness), respiratory distress, anaemia, constipation and irritability. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal in 1995, canola oil used in China for stir-frying was found to emit cancer-causing chemicals from the smoke. Breathing in this smoke could lead to lung cancer.

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5

It may cause blindness

Canola oil was banned in Europe in 1991. John Thomas, in his book Young Again, has stated how during 1986-1991, cattle that fed on it in England and Europe went blind and began attacking people (Mad Cow disease). The attacks and blindness ended with discontinuation of rapeseed.

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6

A lot of fatty acids in canola are “trans” isomers (plastic)

The refining process involved in the making of canola oil causes as much as 4.6 percent of all fatty acids in it to turn into plastic, according to a research by the University of Florida-Gainesville. Trans acid has a tendency to hinder proper metabolism and blocks normal enzyme function. It could also destroy the myelin sheath that surrounds nerves for protection. The adverse effects may take as long as 10 years to manifest.

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7

It might be a bio-pesticide

According to the Health Ranger, canola oil is the top ingredient in toxic chemical pesticides. It has been officially classified as a bio-pesticide, which means it has “low chronic toxicities.” However, no studies have been conducted on its toxic effects on human beings.

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8

It is a GMO

NaturalNews ays canola (Rapeseed) is on the list of top 10 GMOs. It is one of the most chemically modified foods in the US as it is chemically removed from rapeseed, deodorized and altered. People who believe that canola oil has been used since centuries by China and India without any side-effects must take into consideration that these countries used unrefined oil for cooking purposes.

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